As the new Standard Regional Championship Qualifier season begins to approach, prices for the format’s best cards just keep going up. One of the bigger attractions to the Standard format for some players is the ability to play competitively on a budget – at least compared to other formats. While there are still options to do this, like this $80 strategy that had a major Standard finish, prices for Standard’s best cards just keep going up.
Sunfall
Sunfall is one of the nastiest Limited bombs around. Despite being a five mana board wipe, Sunfall is seeing Pioneer and Standard play thanks to how powerful the card truly is. Not only does Sunfall exile all creatures in play, but it even leaves a present for you! The Incubator Token Sunfall creates becomes a lot more impactful when it’s the only threat left on board, giving you a way to win the game depending on how big it is, and forcing opponents to deal with it when trying to reestablish their board state. These elements also make Sunfall a decent Commander choice.
Sunfall began ramping up in price in mid-November, priced $2.50 at the time. Spiking hard through December, Sunfall’s market value is currently about $8.37. Sales suggest that this average is, more or less, indicates that this is an accurate market average.
Gix, Yawgmoth Praetor
Mono black decks everywhere want Gix, Yawgmoth Praetor. Whether you’re playing Standard, Pioneer or Commander, Gix,Yawgmoth Praetor offers a ton of card draw for any decks that are employing a lot of creatures. Unlike most cards with an ability that cares about having creatures connect with your opponent, Gix cares about each individual instance of damage. If you connect with multiple creatures, you’ll be able to draw multiple cards. This alone makes Gix a powerhouse in many decks.
To make things better, Gix has a powerful activated ability that you sink your mana into. If you draw a bunch of cards you don’t have a great use for, you can discard those cards for seven mana and steal your opponent’s cards instead.
As a result, Gix saw an absolutely absurd price spike over the holiday season. Starting at $5.78, Gix’s market value skyrocketed to $11 in just two weeks.
Ozolith, the Shattered Spire
Ozolith, the Shattered Spire is a Standard legal card, but Standard is not the reason why this card is increasing in price. Hardened Scales is a seriously powerful archetype in the Modern format, and Ozolith, the Shattered Spire acts as an extra copy of Hardened Scales with an activated ability that can bolster your board even if you run out of resources. While being legendary is a downside, players always have the option of Cycling this card away.
Ozolith, the Shattered Spire has seen a pretty consistent price spike since a dip in late October, seeing a change in market average from $5 to $9.37 in that time. It’s not a big spike by any means, but $3 worth of the spike did occur in the last month.
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Jace, the Perfected Mind
Jace, the Perfected Mind’s sudden spike in price brought a lot of concern to rising prices of Standard cards. Seeing signs of life for the Standard format in paper Magic is fantastic, but what’s the point if no one can afford it?
As we’ve covered a few times this week, Jace is rising in price because its a mirror-breaker for the best deck in the Standard format. Domain Ramp is the place to be in Standard, promising grindy games aplenty. This is awkward in a mirror, with games sometimes being decided by one player decking out.
Jace, as a result, becomes a lot stronger. This card is a fine midrange piece in some matchups, but in the Domain mirror, deleting a portion of an opponent’s deck can end up deciding the game.
As a result of players preparing their paper decks for the mirror match, Jace, Perfected Mind’s price has risen. The card’s market value has risen from $3 to $7.65 overall.
Godzilla, Doom Inevitable
A bizarre trend appeared a while ago causing a majority of the MTG Godzilla cards to suddenly rise in price. The only real indicator that could be the cause of these price spikes is the recent success of the Godzilla Minus One movie, whose release does make sense with the timeline of the spikes.
Godzilla, Doom Inevitable saw the biggest spike of all the Godzilla cards during this time, but where some cards stopped increasing in price, This one just kept going.
To reiterate what we said in an earlier article covering this, Yidaro, Wandering Monster does not see competitive play. The card is, frankly, just not very good in any format it’s legal in. This means that the appeal of this price increase is likely linked to the Godzilla IP.
Overall, the market average for Godzilla, Doom Inevitable has increased from $10 to $24 for nonfoil copies since the beginning of November. Foil copies started around the same place, but commonly sell for $30 or more. Notably, this card is not Standard legal.
Hopefully Standard Succeeds
Early indicators, at least in terms of financial increases, make it appear that players are excited for the Standard Regional Qualifier season. It appears, however, that some stores are already shying away from even giving Standard a try. In my area, there are almost no Standard RC’s to even prepare for, with a majority of tournaments being Limited, or another format entirely.
Ultimately, we’ll have to wait and see just how far Wizards of the Coast’s efforts to revitalize Standard go. If the interest is there, there are some steps that can be taken to make the format more affordable for everyone.
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